People work very hard to produce novels and the one I would write would be worse than this one, but that's as nice as I can be. This book is pretty bad. I'm not sure if the author went to med school or did a residency or just googled "Stereotypical bad hospital stuff," "stereotypical medical school stories," and "med school urban legends." It's like seeing a car wreck and writing the novel "look! A car wreck!" without knowing the first thing about cars and wrecks other than jargon and without any meaningful reflection whatsoever. I've always thought about writing an essay collection about my own experiences in medicine... Patient interactions that were personally meaningful or personal challenges that taught me the art of medicine... But this novel has scared me completely away from the idea on the remote possibility that it could come out as glib and shallow as this one. I work in acute care and clearly need to broaden my horizons in my off hours, but I find myself wondering who else would really read this. It's not written for people who don't grok the terminology, unless they actually enjoy flipping to the dictionary every few lines. Honestly, the dictionary entries threw me, too. I didn't understand when I came across the first underlined word and wasted 15 minutes trying to figure it out. Had my prefs reset themselves? I turned off the ones that show highlights and notes from other readers, yet there it was. Finally shrugged it off as an editing error, and then there was another. And another. Dang, all the medical terms were underlined, and if I accidentally swiped one as I turned a page, up popped the dictionary. Really annoying all around. Oddly enough, the first word he should have checked the dictionary for, he didn't. "Harbinger" (as in "harbinger of just enough knowledge to be dangerous") does not mean what you think it does. It means a portent, not a receptacle. I knew I was in trouble at that point, and there were just enough typos and odd word choices to keep reminding me of that. Yes, you should write what you know, but you also need to write to the level of your audience. This isn't it. This reads like whining amongst med students. Intelligent, maybe, but in an awkward ESL delivery by someone who doesn't do small talk or fit in well. It might work as a blog, but relating a "fictitious" patient history isn't great literature. It's not even great TV. That's why they add all that soap opera crap in between the medical stuff to hold people's interest--because regular people's eyes glaze over when you start expounding on things like Yankhauer tubes and necrotizing fasciitis. Granted, most dictations I hear are far worse than this and so it was a familiar read for me. However, that doesn't make it a great novel. I also have a problem with the frequency a mere MS is making huge decisions, including not just one but two executions. I know exactly how inflated medical care is and why, and whilst I have no personal problem with assisted suicide per se, it is nevertheless illegal almost everywhere. That's why TV dramas tread lightly around the subject and most doctors don't just blab about how they might help ease someone over the edge when asked and NEVER talk about executing someone simply for being an arsehole. Yikes. A med student or nurse doing this? That's a bad Lifetime movie, dude. A felony. Like I said, I get the book, but I don't know that even getting an editor would make it literature. Even medical blogging has been done better (see Dr. Doug's Placebo Journal, rectal X-rays included).
What do You think about Seven Patients (2012)?
Crazy, wild and totally freaked me out! I am NEVER going to the doctor again!! LOL LOL LOL
—roxanac
I was very bored with this book. maybe i will come back to it later.
—jay
Insightful, disturbing, and heart-warming.
—amanda
Good book, just seemed to end abruptly!
—seeerrreeennnaaaa
